


A Place To Start

by ALargeBear



Category: Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Future Fic, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-19
Updated: 2019-03-19
Packaged: 2019-11-24 06:47:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18162620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ALargeBear/pseuds/ALargeBear
Summary: When did Uchiura become home?





	A Place To Start

**Author's Note:**

> idk this reads more like a summary of a longer fic than an actual one, but I hope it's still alright.
> 
> Title and overall idea inspired by the song: A Place To Start by White Denim.

Riko wondered when a tiny town on the edge of the sea became home. Tokyo and the bustle of city life were what she  was acquainted with in her younger years. Growing up in a place that was almost the polar opposite of the place she settled. When did it happen, and why was Uchiura the place she could never see herself leaving?

 

She knew the answer to both those questions, one taking longer to understand than the other.

 

In passing, Riko would say she fell in love with Uchiura during those wonderful high school years she wouldn’t trade for any other, and  maybe there was truth to that, but it wasn’t the whole truth .  Years spent away at a fancy college learning how to compose beautiful works under the supervision on the countries greatest sowed seeds of doubt . The big city seeming to be the only place she could achieve a dream made long before she even knew where Uchiura was.

 

It was in those four years that Riko came to understand what made a home and that the who was  just as important as the where .  All of the joy that performing her own pieces on stage brought paled to the giddiness of performing on stage with eight other girls in a ragtag group that became special .  A realization that was so shocking it brought back doubts that Riko hadn't felt since that first month after her high school transfer . Thinking that it was a stupid dream after all.

 

It wasn’t until she came back home that she understood what she was missing. The simple answer was Chika. The longer, more complicated answer was still Chika. She was the glue that held Riko together, even when the world seemed hell-bent on making her shatter. It was something she knew. A fact she had understood since that fateful encounter on the beach. A point reinforced every year since they got together in the blissful second year of high school. Love that was so consistent and obvious, that she knew it wasn’t anything ever to  be questioned .

 

All of that fear brought on by lost direction.  Old anxieties that  were forced back up when confronted with new, but wholly terrifying thoughts of what to do as she entered her twenty-somethings .  Her love of music not meshing with the traditional recitals and lonely solo performances in front of crowds who favored technical skill over all else .  It lacked that indescribable shine that Chika wouldn’t stop blabbering about, even as they grew older .  There was nobody to share the bright stage lights with, no one to share in the glee of a heart-pounding performance .

 

Riko  was lost until she made the decision to stay. Deciding to make Uchiura her new start.  Chika questioned it at first, making sure she was alright with giving up on a dream they’d discussed since they first met . Riko was sure, and in that coming year, waking up each morning next to Chika. There was never a reason to doubt. The right decision had  been made .

 

“Riko.”

Riko shook her head, forcing her focus from the shimmering ocean to the bright orange hair at her side. The cool sand tickling her bare feet as she walked with fingers entwined with Chika’s.

 

“I’m sorry, Chika. I was thinking about something else.”

 

“Geez, and everyone calls me the airhead,” Chika mumbled, swinging their held hands back and forth as they walked . “I was trying to ask you what you thought we should do for tonight.”

 

“Oh, yeah.” Riko kept walking but forced her eyes forward. Jittery fingers spinning the gold band on her finger. “Didn’t we get everything we needed last night?”

 

“We’ve got all the food ready and stuff, but I want to make sure tonight’s perfect, ya know?”

Chika asked, but didn’t wait for a response. “We haven’t had everyone in town at the same time in over a year. The last Aqours reunion was awesome, so this one needs to be, too.”

 

Riko hummed her approval, hand tightening around Chika’s as they walked in silence. She’d come to find the crashing waves against the shore calming, helping to ease the anxiety of the coming night. It was silly to be afraid, she knew, but it wasn’t something so  easily left behind. A part of herself she was sure would never  truly go away.

 

“I can tell you’re nervous,” Chika said, sliding in closer so their shoulders touched. “We don’t have to announce it to everyone right away if you don’t want to.”

 

“No.” Riko didn’t waste any time answering. “I want everyone to know at the same time.”

 

“Good.”  Chika smiled, radiant like they were still in high school, and Riko felt the butterflies in her stomach die off as soon as they came . “Because I can’t wait to introduce you as my future wife instead of my girlfriend.”

 

Chika made sure to swing their connected hands high as she finished, making sure her own gold band dazzled in the setting sun . 

 

They walked until the sand ended and their feet met concrete. The ocean breeze cold as the sun threatened to fall even further. As they stopped in front of an old family-owned inn, the only warmth the shoulder on Riko's own, and the clasped hands. Not alone in Tokyo, but together in Uchiura. Not for the first time, but now sure in her new start, and calling this place home.

  
  



End file.
